Reports: Paris Saint-Germain set to appoint Unai Emery as Laurent Blanc's replacement

Paris bound?

According to multiple news reports in the past few days, Paris Saint-Germain are set to announce the appointment of Unai Emery as their manager as a replacement for Frenchman Laurent Blanc. 

The 44-year-old Basque has won the UEFA Europa League three times in a row for Sevilla and is one of the most sought after managers in world football. His experience in Europe and strategical tact is set to have impressed the Paris Saint-Germain hierarchy who are ready to sack Laurent Blanc even though the Frenchman has won the Ligue 1 title in all of the last three seasons. 

The reports also suggest that the Parisian club will have to pay Sevilla a compensation of around €2 million to prise away the manager. Even though Emery's winning streak in Spain is far from the best, his winning percentage in European competitions is high – something the Parisian club are yet to achieve. 

Laurent Blanc guided Paris Saint-Germain to the quarter-finals in his last years of the club and has failed to get past that stage to really put the club on the European stage even though they boasted of players in the ilk of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Lucas Moura and Angel di Maria. 

Unai Emery, meanwhile, won the UEFA Europa League all the three years he's been in charge of the Andalusian club spectacularly beating English giants Liverpool - spearheaded by talismanic manager Jurgen Klopp - this year in a dramatic 3-1 win even though they went 1-0 down early in the game. 

His appointment at Paris Saint-Germain is set to shake the managerial landscape in Europe. Emery was wanted by Italian giants, AC Milan and Napoli but his appointment will likely free Laurent Blanc to join a club he chooses and one of the Serie A clubs could be his destination. Manuel Pellegrini, meanwhile, who was replaced by Pep Guardiola at Manchester City is also in contention for the AC Milan.